


Reminiscent

by denkiisbestboyo



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Bittersweet, F/F, Holding Hands, Post-War, Reminiscing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:33:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25183315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/denkiisbestboyo/pseuds/denkiisbestboyo
Summary: “You don’t have to rest the whole world on your shoulders anymore, you know.”“I know.”
Relationships: Mai/Ty Lee (Avatar)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 40





	Reminiscent

**Author's Note:**

> this is the first thing i've written for avatar, but that show was my entire childhood, so i might write more

Mai leaned back on her hands, feeling the soft ground give a little under her palms. The ground was always soft here, imbued with the constant spray of the sea below the cliff. The air smelled of salt as it wafted over her, gently combing through her hair. She could hear the gentle lapping of the water against the rocks as she looked out over the ocean. It stretched out into the distance, stopped only by the orange line of the horizon and the sun sinking beneath it’s waves. 

Orange. 

Then, bright and annoying. It was constant, in the way people dressed and behaved, the very essence of the fire nation. She hated it. 

Now, she could appreciate it more. 

Mai shifted, sitting upright so that she could pull her hair loose of it’s usual styling. 

Sitting in the setting sun's glow alone wasn’t something she usually did. Lately, her evenings had been full of letters from her parents and Zuko, letting her know how things were progressing back home - her parents asking her to come back, Zuko telling her to take all the time she needed. 

She had barely even skimmed the letters this evening before heading outside. 

She needed to be outside tonight. 

Something about the salty air and the dying sun and the bright orange sky made memories resurface. 

Mai remembered the beaches of Ember Island. The summer homes. The sticky island fruits, always within arm’s reach, always fresh picked, only the best of the crop. She had never liked them much; the tiny seeds got stuck in her teeth. 

She remembered Azula, making small fires on the beach when the sun would go down, forcing them to play silly games. It would always be something about secrets. 

“You can tell me.” She would say to one of them. Any of them. It never mattered to her. No one was safe, not even her ‘friends’. “We’re friends.”

There was no refusal. She would wheedle and grin and compliment - “Oh, Ty Lee, you’re the prettiest of us, no doubt.” or “Don’t worry ZuZu, I won’t tell Uncle.” or “I’ll practice throwing with you if you tell me, Mai.” - and always get her way in the end. 

They would tell her.

And she would hold it over their heads until it no longer had relevance. Until she needed a new secret. 

They would still tell her. 

Maybe out of habit. Maybe out of fear. 

They were simpler times. 

Mai thought of Azula now, stored away in the bowels of some fire nation prison, awaiting trial. She thought of the doctor Zuko had assigned to her case. She was a hearty woman, someone who would see through Azula’s manipulation when she got better. 

If she got better. 

Somehow, Mai missed her. 

Azula had been terrible and Mai had been so scared of her all the time, but at least she had been constant. She had been something to complain about and confide in Ty Lee about and whisper to Zuko about. And as much as Mai hated her, she was a part of her childhood. 

There had been good times. 

Mindless games when they were small, and lounging on the beach when they were older. 

There had been times when Mai had believed that Azula was getting better. She would open up a little, just to them. 

She knew now that it had just been another part of her manipulation, but it had seemed genuine in the moment.

It didn’t matter. 

She had always liked Zuko better anyway. 

Zuko. 

Mai missed him. She read his letters more than her parents. 

They were always filled with political news, talk about the different nobility and generals and councils that would come to negotiate and sign treaties and agreements. War cleanup and apologies were more difficult than they seemed, even with the Avatar running around and smoothing things over. 

Zuko had his hands full. 

Looking at this sunset in front of her, Mai thought of another night. When Zuko had pulled her outside just to sit with him for a moment. They had watched the sun go down on the coast of the Fire Nation. She’d told him she hated orange. 

She missed him. 

After the war he’d drifted. Drifted back to the palace, to start cleaning away all the terrible things his father had put in place. Drifted towards the Avatar and his friends and away from them. Mai didn’t hold it against him. He was doing wonderful things for the world, like she had known he always would. 

She had drifted too, she supposed. Away from the Fire Nation and her family and out into the rest of the world, just letting the time wash over her. 

Still, loving Zuko had been easy. Peaceful, even when the world was crumbling down.

He had been so close and good. 

Convenient, though she wouldn't change any of it for the world. 

She would have to thank him again for giving her the strength to make her own way in the world. Maybe she would write that in her next letter back. 

It had really only been because of him that she’d been able to turn away from Azula. And really only because of Ty Lee that she’d survived doing it. 

“Mai?”

Mai didn’t turn around, only smoothed a hand over the ground beside her, inviting Ty Lee to sit down. 

She did, crossing her legs underneath her. “It’s a really nice sunset.” She noted. 

Mai hummed. 

“I didn’t know where you’d went for a minute.” Ty Lee continued. “You’re usually inside by now.”

They sat in silence for a moment. 

Mai looked at Ty Lee. She looked different now; older. She had her hair down from it’s usual braid, and it hung down her back. As much as Mai liked the pink she usually favored, looking at the dress she was wearing now, she decided that green suited her too. Though Ty Lee looked good in most things. Even the circus garb she’d worn. 

“Do you ever miss the circus?” Mai asked. 

Ty Lee looked over at her, blinking owlishly. “Sometimes, I guess.”

“I thought you’d go back.” Mai said. “After the war. You seemed like you wanted to.”

Ty Lee shrugged. “I don’t know. I dont think it would be right for me to go back.”

Mai turned her attention back to the sun and the waves.

“I do miss it sometimes though.” Ty Lee said. “That’s normal though, I think.”

Mai brushed a few stray hairs out of her face, pushing them back behind her ear. 

“You seem like you’re thinking about things.” Ty Lee said. 

“I’m always thinking about things.” 

Ty Lee smiled. “Yeah, but you’re all…” She gestured vaguely. 

Mai blinked at her. “Descriptive.”

Ty Lee pouted a little. “You know what I meant.”

A silence drifted through them for a moment before Mai broke it. 

“I guess I’m just missing stuff.” Mai said. “It feels bad, missing a war that we worked so hard to end.”

Ty Lee said nothing for a moment, just looking out over the scenery in front of them. 

“I don’t think it’s that bad.” Ty Lee said. 

“It was a war.” 

“Yeah but we grew up in it. It was our childhood.” She said. “And there were good parts. Like when we would go to Ember Island, or the festivals in the summer.”

“I guess.”

Another silence wafted by on the breeze. 

“I get what you mean though.” Ty Lee said. 

Mai turned to look at her. 

“It feels… guilty.” She said. “Because it was such a bad time for the rest of the world.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever go back to Ba Sing Se.” Mai said. 

“No.” Ty Lee agreed. 

“We were kind of terrible, when you think about it.” Mai said. 

“We fixed it though.” Ty Lee countered. 

“We tried.” Mai sighed. 

A bird chirped in the foliage nearby. Mai could hear it calling softly. There must be a nest nearby. 

Ty Lee slid one of her hands out of her lap, resting it on top of Mai’s. Mai let her wind their fingers together. She gently squeezed Ty Lee’s palm. 

“You don’t have to rest the whole world on your shoulders anymore, you know.”

“I know.”

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on tumblr @denkiisbestboyo


End file.
